Contents

History

Many of those involved in Indian Affairs desired to assimilate the native population and to teach them to rid themselves of their native culture. Efforts were made to accomplish that by sending representatives of various religious denominations to “convert them to Christianity.” Certainly, this effort was met with some success.

Another approach was tried in the late 1800s. Some Bureau of Indian Affairs officials felt that if the American Indian children could be sent to schools off the reservations, they could be taught English and to renounce their culture. Lt. Richard Henry Pratt established the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, which became the beginning of the Indian Boarding School System.

An Education Division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was established in 1885. This brought an intensification of the effort to educate the younger American Indians in agriculture, domestic skills, mechanical training, and the basic subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

In addition to boarding schools, day schools were established on or near some reservations.

The education of Native American children changed significantly with the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Tribes were given greater autonomy in where their students could go to school, what they were taught, etc. Indian education continues to evolve. For information about Indian education in today's world, see the web site of the Bureau of Indian Education.

Brief Timeline

1879, November 1: Carlisle, Pennsylvania - Carlisle School opened

1884: 200 Indian Schools were operating

1887: 10,000 Indian children were in school

1890: 104 Reservation schools were operating

1894: 77 Reservation boarding schools were operating

1896: Congress reduced funds to the Indian Schools; in this year the funding was cut 80%

1900: government support for church-run Indian schools was completely withdrawn

Mid 1900: government schools were discontinued and the Indian students were to be assimilated into the public schools

Some boarding schools were managed by church groups under government contract.

Records

The agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on each reservation were required to maintain records of potential students. School census records included names of school-age children, their age, place of birth, and, in some cases, the name of their parent or guardian.

Reports were sent by the agents to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs regarding the enrollment of students from their reservation.

The schools themselves maintained individual pupil files, as well as attendance records, and other records of the health of the students, teachers at the schools, etc.

Some of the records of government boarding and day schools have been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration system. If the school is still in operation, some records are still maintained by their administrative office. Some records have been acquired by historical societies or universities

See also:

Under each state of the United States is a heading, "American Indians." One of the sub-headings on that page is "Schools." Pages regarding the history, location, and availability of the records for each school are being developed.